Holiday Eating Tips

Cheat to Win - Weight Control in the Holiday Season
Thursday, April 08, 2010 by dotFIT experts (Neil)

Be free to indulge in holiday cheer without sacrificing your fitness goals. Believe it or not, you can start the New Year in BETTER shape than you are now while still enjoying parties and seasonal foods during the holidays.

"Control the CALORIES so you can cheat when you want to. Consistently controlling appetite during the holiday season is difficult at best, so I don’t even try when confronted with any holiday party – especially because I don’t want to. In fact, people always ask me, “how does anyone control themselves at parties?” and I simply say “don’t”. My advice has always been the same since my bodybuilding days: first, set a small weight/fat loss goal starting in early November. Next, cast aside all previous “dieting knowledge,” books, friends’ well-intended but generally bad advice. Stick with the undisputable truth, which is the fact that any calorie burned cancels any calorie consumed, period. And the reverse is true: any calorie NOT consumed is one that won’t need to be burned, which forces your body to burn its stored calories or fat. In other words, when it comes to weight management it’s not WHEN or WHAT you eat and do, but HOW MUCH you eat and move over any given time frame."

"Control the AVERAGE daily deficit. There is a certain daily caloric deficit a person must average in order to lose a specific amount of body fat in a designated time frame. Your average weekly weight change, quantified as pounds and/or body fat percentage, validates the size of your deficit regardless of what you think you ate or recorded."

"The key during the holidays is to focus on the average deficit rather than your daily deficit. This is because you most likely will not be able to reach your goal deficit on the “party days,” but you can compensate on other days in order to remain perfectly on target."

What I get from this wonderful article is:
1. EAT CLEAN most days of the week (5+ days)
2. Get your water in 2 liters at least (help flush out the toxins)
3.. Hit your workouts hard (park the car futher away from the gym or the store and take a few extra steps.)
4. Don't beat yourself up on slips you may have (it only makes it worse).
5. Enjoy the Holiday season in MODERATION!!

HAVE a Health junkie Happy Holiday Season!!

Check out rippedusa.dotfit.com for more awesome tips

Sexy arms for the holidays

Here's a simple workout that you can do at home or the gym. Give it a try and let me know how you feel.

1. Do 3 sets of 15 for each exercise. You can use dumbbells or even cans of soup if your just getting started.

2. Rest no more than 30 seconds between sets, gotta keep the heart rate up.

3. Lift at least 2 times a week with 48 hour rest between (i.e. Tuesdays, Thursday). For best results lift 3 times a week. If you’re short on time you can do just 2 sets of each exercise.

4. Make sure you warm up 3-5 minutes and cool down and stretch after your done. Helps prevent injury and rewards your body for the hard work it performs daily.

5. Its your workout, listen to your body and challenge yourself...a little or a lot!

Chest press- lie on a mat/floor, bench, or stability ball with dumbbells.

(Tips: Hands shoulder width apart with your knuckles to the sealing. Target is over the center of your chest. Inhale on the way down, exhale as you squeeze through your chest on the way up.)

Chest Fly- lie on a mat/floor, bench, or stability ball with dumbbells.

(Tips: Hands face in towards each other. Elbows soft, inhale on the way down, exhale as you squeeze through your chest on the way up.)

Wide Row- Standing up, hinge from the waist, elbows are out wide,

(Tips: brace your core; look at the floor about 5 feet in front of you to help keep your spine long. Draw your shoulder blades down into the spine. Visualize squeezing a penny between your shoulder blades.)

Narrow row- standing up, hinge from the waist, elbows in narrow-

(Tips: brace your core; look at the floor about 5 feet in front of you to help keep your spine long. Draw your shoulder blades down into the spine. Visualize squeezing a penny between your shoulder blades. You can fill your elbows brush by your rib cage as you pull back.)

Bicep curl- hands by your side, palms up

(Tips: elbows under the shoulder to help stabilize and keep the work in your biceps. Curl up towards your chest and extend down to your thigh.)

Triceps kick backs- hinge from the waist, elbows at 90 degrees by your rib cage

(Tips: kick arm straight back, feel the squeeze at the top. Keep spine long.)

Triceps dips- seated, hands by your glutes, lift up

(Tips: lower down to where your elbows are at 90 degrees and then push up.)

Dumbbell overhead press: Elbows at 90 degrees

(Target zone from your ears to the ceiling)

Dumbbell lateral raise: Elbows by your side, slightly in front, lift to shoulder level

Push-ups: hands out wide, knees hip width apart, spine long

(Tips: looking about 2-3 ft in front of you. Lower down to 90 degrees and push up)

Plank: hold for 30sec to 1 min

Side plank: hold 30 sec each side

Happy Holidays and Happy Lifting!!

Perfect Timing....

It's important to reward yourself when you've reached a goal that you've set. I was reading in my runner's world magazine and they said that getting a massage once a week helps prevent muscle soreness and injuries. Go have A SPA DAY!

Check out the November 2010 issue "Perfect Timing."

Go to runnersworld.com

Quick Black Bean Chili

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup coarsely chopped red bell pepper
2 TBS. finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 TBS. snipped cilantro
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 cans (15oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (16 oz.) fat-free refried beans
1 can (14oz) fat-free vegetable broth
1 TBS lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin

Yield: 4 servings

Chop the veggies and saute them with jalapeno and garlic. Add black beans, refried beans, broth, lime juice and cumin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir cilantro into chili. Top with 2 TB. sour cream if you'd like.

Autumn Minestrone Soup

*Serves 6
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion diced

6 ounces turkey or regular bacon or ham chopped

2 cloves garlic finely minced

2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes

2 (15 oz.) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

½ cup chopped carrots

2 celery stalks, chopped

¼ cup chopped flat-leaf fresh parsley

2 potatoes, peeled and diced (I leave the peels on with red potatoes)

1 zucchini, diced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

½ cup to ¾ cup small pasta

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot until shimmering. Add the onion and bacon and sauté until the onion is translucent, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and stir, cooking for one minute. Add all the other ingredients except the pasta and simmer, stirring occasionally, partially covered for 20-30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the pasta and simmer for 10 minutes longer. Serve.

Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe

Fall treats in MODERATION..

I'm not saying these PUMPKIN cookies are healthy, but they are yummy!!

Easy to MAKE:

1 box spice cake mix

15 oz. plain pumpkin

chocolate chips (optional)

Mix together and cook on 375 for 10-12 min

It's time to be HONEST with yourself

Are you frustrated or unhappy with your fitness goals right now? If so, I want you to ask yourself..."How is my Eating?"

Take a moment and write down what you've ate & drank in the last 24 hours.
(every little bite & lick)

One of the biggest factors in the role play of weight loss/maintain is our EATING! Sorry if you didn't want to hear that, but it's the truth. Think of your food as fuel, and you want to fill your body with the best so you can accomplish all your hopes and dreams.

Healthy Eating Patterns...

Check out this website: www.mypyramid.gov